The American journal of clinical nutrition
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Evidence exists that well-planned vegetarian diets provide numerous health benefits and are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle. It is also known that animal foods provide micronutrients that are nonexistent or available only in limited amounts in plant foods. Restriction or exclusion of all animal foods may therefore result in low intake of certain micronutrients such as vitamin B-12, thereby affecting vitamin B-12 status and elevating plasma homocysteine concentrations. ⋯ Although early noticeable symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency are nonspecific (unusual fatigue, digestion problems, frequent upper respiratory infections), the best-known clinical manifestations of cobalamin malabsorption are hematologic (pernicious anemia) and neurologic symptoms. Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Given these health concerns, vegetarians, particularly vegans, must be advised to carefully plan their diets, to monitor their plasma vitamin B-12 on a regular basis to facilitate early detection of low cobalamin status, and to use vitamin B-12-fortified foods or take vitamin B-12 supplements if necessary.
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Previous studies have linked full-calorie sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with greater weight gain and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. ⋯ Regular consumption of SSBs is associated with a higher risk of CHD in women, even after other unhealthful lifestyle or dietary factors are accounted for.
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Adolescents are more likely than adults to consume energy-dense, micronutrient-poor diets and to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes. ⋯ Poor micronutrient intake and status increase the risk of SGA births in pregnant adolescents.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of 1 and 3 g cinnamon on gastric emptying, satiety, and postprandial blood glucose, insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and ghrelin concentrations in healthy subjects.
A previous study of healthy subjects showed that intake of 6 g cinnamon with rice pudding reduced postprandial blood glucose and the gastric emptying rate (GER) without affecting satiety. ⋯ Ingestion of 3 g cinnamon reduced postprandial serum insulin and increased GLP-1 concentrations without significantly affecting blood glucose, GIP, the ghrelin concentration, satiety, or GER in healthy subjects. The results indicate a relation between the amount of cinnamon consumed and the decrease in insulin concentration.